The present invention concerns improvements in a means for effecting controlled attachment of the shroud lines attached to the masts of sailing vessels to a deck plate mount.
Typically, the masts of sailing vessels are supported in a generally vertical position by several shroud lines which are connected adjacent to the top of the mast and at the lower or distill end, to the deck of the vessel. In order to rig a vessel properly, the shroud lines attached to the mast should be placed in equal tension and should be geometrically of respective lengths to provide a mast having prescribed vertical vectors. Shroud lines on smaller sailing vessels or sail boats whose operation is primarily for pleasure are frequently attached by the owners of such vessels in an empirical manner when a vessel is rerigged or when an individual shroud line requires replacement. The person making the replacement may resort to the "feel" of the line to match the tension of an opposing shroud line while attempting to connect the distill end of the shroud line with the deck fitting. Since the connection to be made with the deck fitting is variable as to length, the results are not always optimal. This can result in unequal loading and improper alignment of the mast which effects the proper sailing of the vessel.
Various attempts have been made to provide adjustable connectors between the lines of sailing vessels and their hull connections. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 38,919 and 311,605 disclose such devices. Turnbuckles of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,147 have been proposed for this purpose. While such devices have their uses, particularly for larger sailing vessels where the rigging must sustain greater forces under sail, these devices are not readily applicable to smaller sailing vessels and sail boats generally in non-commercial use.
The present invention concerns a rigging clamp and gauge which is extremely simple in construction and which may be used by the average person to very accurately rig the shroud lines of a small sailing vessel.